Management Control Packages in Public Sector Organizations

This thesis examines configurations of management control (MC) packages in public sector organizations, and how they relate to employee motivation and behavior. Using multiple case studies and a survey study, this thesis contributes to the extant literature in three ways. First, it enhances the understanding of interactions between MC elements, for instance by developing the notion of ‘conflicting relations’ and by providing empirical evidence on such relations. Second, this thesis indicates that the recent times of austerity reinforce the use of output-related types of MC, as advocated by New Public Management (NPM) movements. Evidence from this thesis, however, shows that such MC elements have a limited applicability in the public sector, in which the measurement of output is often difficult. Third, this thesis contributes to the MC literature by demonstrating how theories from other fields, such as sociology and psychology, can be used to inform our knowledge of the relation between MC and employee motivation.